Now, those of us who have read Steven's books know his mantra for the grill: keep it hot, keep it clean, and keep it lubricated. I've even bought grill pads and I've got one of Steven's grill oilers for the purpose:http://www.grilling4all.com/sm8131.html

by the way, Canada. What do you think of the grill oil pan? I bought one and stopped using it, it seemed to get oil everywhere.

Sorry - I forgot to answer this one.

The cotton pads that you hold in a pair of tongs are OK, and better than using a rolled-up paper towel. I found that the paper towel burned too easily and left bits of charred paper on the grill. The "hunk of beef fat held in a pair of tongs" works well if you can find a butcher who has some beef fat to spare, and I've even tried the "stick a grill fork in a half onion and use it to oil the grill" method Steven likes to use on Primal Grill. The last one works a bit better on medium heat than on high heat - more onion-y good flavor.

The one thing I haven't tried yet is one of those pump-type oil sprayers (I have a Misto brand sprayer I use in the kitchen). I know I've posted a few rants about TV chefs spraying PAM on a lit grill, and now I'm wondering again if it's the atomized oil, or just the propellant (propane) that causes the blowtorch effect. (And I'm sure that now that I've mentioned it I'll try another mad-scientist experiment next grill session.)

Having said all that, I've used a few different grill oilers and the cloth-pad-based ones seem to do exactly as you said - they seemed to get too much oil on the grill at once. The silicone oiler brush seems to work a bit better and I like it. The brush doesn't drip as much oil, and it's pretty good at laying down a good coat of oil quickly - the heat shield helps with this too. I didn't see a lot of flareups from this brush, either - just don't use a lot of pressure on the brush or you might.

Come to think of it, this brush came in very handy when I seasoned my new gasser last summer. It covered about 700 square inches of grill grate in less than a minute, so I guess I like it a lot. We'll see how well it performs on the CG Outlaw when I season its grates in a week or two - part of my annual maintenance/modding session.

Unlike propane, you'll never wake up scorched and naked in another county because you mishandled a bag of briquettes.

Last night I took a close look at my Char-Broil iron grates; they're the 2-piece system designed for both 18" and 22" kettles. Anyhow, the bars are also triangular (trapezoidal, really) and when using both grates on a 22" the narrower side of the bars face upward, but the smaller 18" grate can be used either side up so I tried a couple of t-bones on the side with the wider bars. I even brushed the bars thoroughly and gave them a good oiling...

...and the grill marks were lousy. I don't know why they didn't turn out but I think I'll stick to using the grates the "right" way.

Last night I took a close look at my Char-Broil iron grates; they're the 2-piece system designed for both 18" and 22" kettles. Anyhow, the bars are also triangular (trapezoidal, really) and when using both grates on a 22" the narrower side of the bars face upward, but the smaller 18" grate can be used either side up so I tried a couple of t-bones on the side with the wider bars. I even brushed the bars thoroughly and gave them a good oiling...

...and the grill marks were lousy. I don't know why they didn't turn out but I think I'll stick to using the grates the "right" way.

Perhaps that is one big reason why it's hard for me to produce the kind of grid marks I could desire-- The CG grates are fat on both sides.

For whatever it's worth, Ironside, my method for oiling the grates is that I keep a plain steel Brillo pad in a jar with some oil, and use the pad to work the oil into the grill.

Last night I took a close look at my Char-Broil iron grates; they're the 2-piece system designed for both 18" and 22" kettles. Anyhow, the bars are also triangular (trapezoidal, really) and when using both grates on a 22" the narrower side of the bars face upward, but the smaller 18" grate can be used either side up so I tried a couple of t-bones on the side with the wider bars. I even brushed the bars thoroughly and gave them a good oiling...

...and the grill marks were lousy. I don't know why they didn't turn out but I think I'll stick to using the grates the "right" way.

Perhaps that is one big reason why it's hard for me to produce the kind of grid marks I could desire-- The CG grates are fat on both sides.

For whatever it's worth, Ironside, my method for oiling the grates is that I keep a plain steel Brillo pad in a jar with some oil, and use the pad to work the oil into the grill.

BC - I think those are the "old" CG grates that a number of members really like. A few years ago CG switched to the trapezoidal ones - probably to save costs.

The Brillo pad is a good idea, though. Do you have any problems with getting iron filings stuck to the grates, though? I'd heard that was sometimes a problem.

Unlike propane, you'll never wake up scorched and naked in another county because you mishandled a bag of briquettes.

BC - I think those are the "old" CG grates that a number of members really like. A few years ago CG switched to the trapezoidal ones - probably to save costs.

The Brillo pad is a good idea, though. Do you have any problems with getting iron filings stuck to the grates, though? I'd heard that was sometimes a problem.[/quote]

I am most sorry to hear about the new CG grates. I've gotten really attached to my "fatties," in spite of the skid mark difficulties. I feel these grates could last me a lifetime.

I appreciate the sticky filings issue, but one quickly develops a technique of application that avoids that. I don't encounter that anymore since I developed such tecnnique. I can add that the better the seasoning on the grate, the less of an issue that becomes. Newly seasoned grates would be more inclined to that issue. I really like how I can liberally slobber the grates with this method and work the oil in. Works so well, I can even grill trout without a basket and without the fish sticking.

I oil the grates, and then maybe the food towards the end of the cook. I took a bbq class a few years back put on my Konrad Haskins (www.bbqinstitute.com/) and he said that oiling meat before it cooks adds a barrier between the smoke and the meat and it makes it much more difficult to penetrate. It made sense to me and I have tried to refrain from it since.

I oil the grates, and then maybe the food towards the end of the cook. I took a bbq class a few years back put on my Konrad Haskins (http://www.bbqinstitute.com/) and he said that oiling meat before it cooks adds a barrier between the smoke and the meat and it makes it much more difficult to penetrate. It made sense to me and I have tried to refrain from it since.

Most interesting!-- Makes a whole lot of sense to me, too, though I cannot say that I've ever felt or noticed a reduction in my cooks. I wonder if he would say the same applies to slathers and rubs as well. I've appreciated oil for it's apparent sealing effect on certain foods. However, at the risk of sounding hypocritical (because y'all know how much I enjoy char), my issue with oil stems from health reasons. If you check out this little blurb on "The Healthiest Way to Grill" you'll see the guidelines for cooking with oil that has a high smoke point. that's why I never cook with EVOO, only light olive oil. Moreover, it is asserted that EVOO was never intended to be used to cook with, save at low temp sauces and such at most-- it allegedly destroys the flavor as the oil breaks down and makes it bittler. PLEASE no one shoot the messenger here. Here's the link for Healthy Grilling:http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=whfkitqa&dbid=55

Just for reference, here's a pic of the grill oiler, and also of the Misto oil sprayer I use on food.

I've noticed that if you spray the Misto on the hot grill you get some pretty spectacular flareups, just like using a can of PAM. So with the Misto I oil the food directly - that's a basket of sliced mushrooms in the background, and there's garlic-lemon flavored olive oil in the sprayer.

Unlike propane, you'll never wake up scorched and naked in another county because you mishandled a bag of briquettes.